The 100TH Hunger Games
by BookwormGeekGirl
Summary: Will Peeta and Katniss' daughter Charley Mellark survive in this tale of suspense and Romance with her fellow tribute Alexander Heroy? Thanks for 1,786 views so far!
1. The Reaping

"Welcome, welcome to the 100th Annual Hunger Games" Rosedale Trinket screeches in her weird Capitol accent, Rosedale is the daughter of Haymitch Abernathy and Effie Trinket. Effie was the one who reaped my mother, Katniss and my father, Peeta. My mother and father are scared that the reaping will be rigged, so my name will be pulled out,

because of what they did when they were in the hunger games many years ago. They defied the Capitol and made Seneca Crane eat his own computer generated berries therefore committing suicide because there was no other way out for him.

I try not to let The Hunger Games get to me though and it works, sometimes …

I almost forget all about it some days but other days I think of what I would say to my parents as a goodbye but I really don't want to come to that stage, so I try to block my thoughts and listen to Rosedale.

"This year is a special year everybody!" She squawks out,

"We will be picking one girl and boy as usual, but they will have to work as a team to win the hunger games together, so one district will have both of its tributes back or two districts will have one of there tributes back". A half sigh comes to me. Hopefully I won't get picked but if I do I at least have someone to rely on.

My mother is crying at the thought of losing me, I try to block her face out but its getting harder every minute. Rosedale walks over to the pots and picks out one little piece of paper from each pot, she trots over to the microphone, in her way to big for her high heels, and pronounces …

"This years District 12 tributes are Mr Alexander Heroy and Miss Charley Mellark, come on up Alexander and Charley…"

There was a silence, I turned to my mother she just screamed and dropped to the floor crying her eyes out. I turned around and started to walk calmly up the stairs with a big lump in my throat. Rosedale wanted to welcome me with

a big hug but Effie ran in front of her and told her that she would take over from there so Rosedale hugged Alexander instead.

"Hi darling, how about I take you inside and get you a nice, big mug of coffee yes?" Effie said comfortingly.

"Um" I was trying to form words calmly but I just couldn't speak,

"I know it's a bit scary but you need to get used to it for when you two win!" she said whilst beaming,

"Win?" I didn't think about winning just yet,

"For your mother, father and brother?" I just nodded because I didn't feel like talking and I didn't know what to say back to that. As soon as Rosedale said "Happy Hunger Games" We were whisked away to the Justice building to say our goodbyes, it was harder than I expected it to be and I had to call security to take my own mother away but my father and brother both put up a fight and stayed … so long as they didn't scream or cry like my mother. So they just sat in the corner watching my every move like a couple of hawks, trying to remember who I was before they lost me to the Capitol, President Snow and his daughter Summer. Summer has got to be one of the most evil people in Panem, out of the three children Snow has fathered, Summer is the most like her dad. Summer hated her step-mother Arianna because Snow loved Arianna more than her. Her older brother Luke and her step-mother Arianna died in a fire that she ordered her servants to start. Summers servants were hanged afterwards and her little brother Josh was always really kind and quiet, probably because Summer was always on his back telling him what to do, how to speak to her and when to shut-up!

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	2. The Goodbyes and Hellos

I was told to pack my things as quickly as I could, my brother Liam followed me and stood by the door whilst I packed my things.

"Are you alright?" I don't know how to reply so I just shrug my shoulders. "Honey?" He called me Honey since my 10th birthday also the day he went down the mines, he was scared but not as much as I was for him. I don't know why he chose honey but he remembers why and he tells himself why when he is sad. It was like a security blanket in a way he just needed little things like that to help him when he was down, he loved me all the way up to the moon and back he used to say and I loved him as well but none of that mattered anymore and it wasn't going to help me try to win.

I didn't turn around, I just ignored him and eventually he understood that I just didn't want to have company but he stood outside the door waiting for me because most of District 12 was out there waiting to wish me good luck. I could here shouting coming from downstairs so I decided to go down to investigate and to my amazement I saw my family being dragged out the door by peacekeepers, a remaining peacekeeper shouted to me,

"Get your things then, we haven't got all day, this is meant to be a 5 minute in and out thing but you're making this hard like your parents did …"

I leaned on the banister horrified at what I had just heard, I knew I couldn't take this sitting down,

"Excuse me, who do you think you are to talk about my mother and father like that, they are previous victors of this stupid hunger games and anyway you're just some scrappy little Capitol mutt that does whatever Snow wants … You don't care about anyone but yourself!" He looked at me in astonishment that I, a little District 12 girl would ever conger up enough courage to speak my, and the whole districts', mind.

Rosedale and Effie came storming in after hearing what I said and Rosedale grabbed my things for me whilst Effie gave the peacekeeper a row he won't soon forget,

meanwhile the whole of the district was chanting my name after my little performance. I was starting to feel very proud of my family and that I carried a trait from each of them. I had my mother's anger and strength, my father's determination and my brother's courage.

"Alexander is waiting for you, he was at the train station long ago and he started to worry" Rosedale shouts amongst the noise. I mean I knew he liked me but worry about me, all I want to do is keep that in my head but I have to push it back at the minute.

"I think someone has a crush because when I said we don't need to go to get you, he said he would instead!" She squawks. "Aw a big crush on a little girl!". Effie nudges her to stop going on, that must be one of the traits Rosedale gets from her mum!

Before long we are waiting for the train to come to take us to the Capitol but it takes longer than expected. Rosedale has gone to get Haymitch and Effie has gone to the justice building to see why the train is late, so I am left with Alexander.

I turn to him and start to conger up some words to break the ice.

"Rosedale said you were worrying about me…"

"You were very late" he replies,

"Was I, I didn't realise the time …"

"Oh well at least you're here now, Haymitch is meant to give us some great advice so we can win together."

"Cool"

"In a way I am glad I got reaped this year because I don't have to try and kill you, I mean I really don't want to"

"I am quite glad as well; I wouldn't want to kill you either!" I sigh "So have you got any tactics?"

"Nope, you?"

Before I could answer the train arrives to take us on our long journey to the Capitol.


	3. The Journey

Just as we are getting on the train Effie, Haymitch and Rosedale arrive, we drag our suitcases into our rooms and are told not to unpack as we need to have a meet and greet session with Haymitch. As the train pulls away from the station all of District 12 is eagerly waiting to say a final goodbye and bid us good luck, I scan around and catch a glimpse of my mother stood waving and my father and brother either side of her with linked arms. I smile and wave because this might be the last time I see the District and my family ever again, but I try not to let that show.

We sit in the plush Capitol chairs awaiting Haymitch for a long time, it seems we are left alone again so more conversation springs.

"You didn't reply to my question before we boarded the train you know"

"I'm sorry I just thought you wouldn't hear me when the train came because the Capitol trains are very loud!" I reply shyly,

"Its okay and you don't have to say sorry; I just want to know the answer"

"Well the answer is no … My parents didn't have a clue when they were here so neither do I,"

"I thought you might have some idea being a victor's daughter and all"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing it's just you're made out to be really clever …"

"Well I might be clever but it doesn't mean I have a solution to win the hunger games, if you don't know already it still hasn't sunk in"

"Oh I am really sorry for trying to wind you up … I am just trying to see how tough you are, to see if you can stand on your own two feet and all." He says feeling very sorry.

"Its okay … you know you don't have to say sorry …"

We both laugh at that and for the first time I feel like I am getting to know him. I have seen him in school but never really talked to him or given him a second look. I don't know if he has taken a second look at me but at the minute I just don't care because I feel as if I am a bit unnerved about the whole thing.

Just as we finish laughing Haymitch walks in,

"Hello I am Mr Haymitch Abernathy but you can just call me Haymitch and who do I owe the pleasure of meeting …" he says very calmly as if he was recovering from a hangover,

"I am Mr Alexander Heroy"

"Are you the top miners' boy?"

"Yes sir I mean Haymitch"

"Hmm I see" he pauses "And you miss?"

"I am Miss Charley Mellark" he joins in with my last name, like my name is a chorus, "You helped my mother and father win" I pronounced.

"Yes, yes I did" he answers with a smile and a wink. Alexander butts in,

"Do you think you can help us win Mr Haymitch sir?"

"Most of it is up to yourselves, but I don't know … coming from that background you stand a fair chance if you handle her carefully because her mother had a temper but she had strength to go on fighting and I think that might have been passed down my boy." I sit there feeling rather embarrassed, so I say I am feeling hot as an excuse to get some air and go outside.

Alexander follows me out,

"Is it true, does your mother have a temper and lots of strength?"

"Yes, I suppose."

I look up at the stars and feel like someone out there is watching over me but I don't know who it is.

"It's peaceful out here and very warm so I might sleep out here and watch the stars …"

"Really?"

"Yes really"

Something about that last phrase reminds me of when my mother told me that my dad asked if she loved him and she said "Real!" but I am getting really tired so I don't say anything back.

"Do you want to camp out here with me … there are two sun loungers, one for each"

I say I will just sit for a few minutes but I end up falling asleep there and I can hear Haymitch saying

"Oh well, must have been a tiring day"

But I don't have enough energy to reply so I just lay there.


	4. The next day on the Train

I awake with a fright to see a very tired looking Alexander kneeling next to me with a worried look on his face,

"What, what's wrong?"

"You were screaming all night, did you have a bad dream?"

"I can't remember … must have been, I'm sorry Alexander"

"It's alright, Haymitch tried to pick you up to put you in your room but you punched him in the eye! He tried to take me into mine but I said I would keep watch over you and make sure you were okay instead, so he left"

"Ow that must have hurt, I need to find him and apologise"

"Its alright I did it for you … Come and have breakfast, it's on the table in the cart next door!"

I walk in to find a bruised Haymitch, energetic Effie and no Rosedale.

"Where's Rosedale?"

"I sent her home to the Capitol on another train last night, when we stopped for fuel." Effie replies

"I am really sorry Haymitch," I squeak trying but not trying to be heard.

"It's okay… I was asking for it, messing with an Everdeen!"

"Is your eye saw? Because I know how to fix things like this, my mother taught me how to"

"Here we go again with the Everdeen traits" He chuckles.

"Charley why don't you have something to eat" Alex says loudly.

"Yes darling that's a good idea" Effie replies

"I am not really in the mood for food right now."

"I will force feed you" Haymitch shouts

"Do you want me to kick that other eye as well?"

We all laugh.

"Really sweetie you need to eat because you are meeting your stylists in a few days and we need to fatten you up a bit because in District 12 you eat nothing"

"Stylists?"

"To make you look pretty" Effie replies

"Who is my stylist?"

"Joba!"

"Joba?"

"Yes he is Cinna, your mums' stylists', son!"

"Oh, Joba"

"Enough Joba-ing around EAT SOMETHING!" Haymitch screams "Or else I'll eat it for you!"

And with that he left.

"Don't mind him honey" Effie squeals.

I decide I had better eat something, so I grab a plate and fill it with turkey … Turkey is a delicacy in District 12 because we hardly have any apart from thanksgiving when there is only one turkey to feed the whole entire district. So I saw this as a very big treat.

"Pace yourself!" Alex shouts

"What?"

"Pace yourself! You look like you have never seen food before!" He laughs

I give a smirk

"You two get on well then" Effie adds

"Yeah, it's easy to get on with someone like her" Alexander replies.

I start going red because he is talking about me like I am not even in the room and seen as I haven't met him before and I kept him up all night with my screaming, he is very nice to me.

After breakfast I go into the lounge cart and sit staring into space for a while by myself then Haymitch appears and sits next to me.

"Well, well, well I never knew your mum to be quiet!"

"My father is though,"

"Ah yes, your Mellark side is showing now."

I stayed silent, but Haymitch pressed on.

"We need to talks tactics"

"And advice from you!" I add

"Do you want to be trained together or not?"

"Trained together?"

"I know you need to work as a team but maybe you want to show off some cool things your parents taught you?"

"My parents didn't teach me a lot apart from baking …"

"Oh well"

"Wait there might be a few things,"

"Yes!" Shouted Haymitch

"I throw knives in the kitchen when my father isn't around, my mum never taught me archery but I taught myself and there is one thing that I don't know if it will help or not,"

"What's that?" Haymitch asks eagerly,

"Well I used to like to pretend to punch and kick my brother when I was younger … he called me a warrior."

"Well I think I might put you down for separate" –

"I want Alexander to decide." I explain.

"Okay … I will speak to him promptly"

"You're drunk aren't you?"

"So what if I am!" He snaps

As he started his last sentence Alexander walked in

"Surely that's no way to talk to a lady"

Once again he made me turn red,

"Speak of the devil" Haymitch snarls, "Little miss Mellark was telling me that it is up to you whether you train together or not!"

"Well I don't want there to be any trust issues, so I guess together."

"I guess together" Haymitch answers in a girly voice,

"What" Replies Alex

"Well soon enough you will be referring to her as sweetheart, like I did for her mother! Gosh you are so lovey-dovey for a boy"

"Well maybe I will start referring to her as sweetheart! Would you like that?"

"They both look over at me"

"Don't look at me like that, I am not getting involved!" I say, next Alex shouts

"I will call her sweetheart and show you that nothing is happening between us."

He walks away and Haymitch barks out

"Go on run away, maybe your little sweetheart will come and give you a pet-talk telling you not to worry because you have her later!"

"Why don't you just not talk to him so there is no more conflict, just until we arrive at the Capitol?"

"Okay, but I am not promising!"

For the next few days at least there is no more arguing.


	5. Are we nearly there

Alex tells me he hasn't spoken to Haymitch but I don't know whether to trust him or not. We sit in the lounge with questions us both need answering.

"How's Haymitch?" He says quietly

"He is alright; I suppose … How are you?"

"I am fine" He replies "Are you alright, you seem very quiet lately".

"I, I, don't know anymore"

Tears start rolling down my face, so he opens his arms for a hug. I wrap my arms around his neck and he grabs me around the waist and pulls me close as if I was one of those massive teddy bears that the Capitol children own. I feel safe as if nothing could harm me while I am locked in his arms, I think maybe he enjoyed the hug as well but I don't know. But coming from the roots I do, I think I should talk to him and tell him how I feel.

"Thanks for the hug … I felt safe for the first time here, with you-,"

Before I have time to say another word we hear a bell, the bell that tells us we have stopped for fuel. He sits there laughing, I look to him,

"Was it something I said?"

"No it's just anytime we get anywhere in our relationship"-

"Relationship?"

"As friends … let me continue"

"Sorry!"

He nods,

"Any time we get anywhere in our relationship its seems we are disturbed, like when we were talking before the train arrived and when we were waiting to meet Haymitch. We have those little moments and then they are ruined."

I nod back.

"No, really Sweetheart listen …"

"I am" I reply, and then I let my fingers intertwine with his as a sign of friendship and belief.

"Come on, let's sneak off and go for a walk" He asks,

"Okay then, at least we can talk for a bit longer"

We sneak out the lounge through to the dorm's corridor and then to the boarding door, all of this done hand in hand.

When we get to the door we see Haymitch stood in front of us, he asks Alex if he was sure that there was nothing going on between him and me. I say that he is just guiding me through in the darkness but Haymitch doesn't believe us and goes to get Effie. While he was looking for his beloved Effie, Alex and me see this as an opportunity to get off the train and start walking for a while … we look around for signs to tell us where we are but neither of us know.

I sit down and let Alex walk around. The next thing I know is that I have ended up in Haymitch's lap in the lounge cart with Effie across the room, She seems like she is telling Alex off for something but I don't know what. I decide to open my eyes and see what's happening.

"Hello Sweetheart" Haymitch sings to me, I scream and he nearly drops me,

"What? You've never woken up to see a mans face before"

"No! She is 16 years old" Effie answers "Right, come and sit down Alex and don't say anything!"

I get up; staggering around the room, then I suddenly lose my footing and end up on my back. Going to sleep, Alex picks me up and carry's me to my room, he lays me down on one side of the double bed and he slips under the covers of the other. Haymitch and Effie burst through the door, but only Haymitch stays to watch over Alex and me.

In the morning I see Haymitch, still with eyes wide open, watching me. I look to my right and see Alex sleeping; while he is sleeping, I see this as the time to ask questions.

"So what happened last night?"

"He tried to cosy up to you but I told him not to wake you"

"I mean why did I end up in your lap?"

"You fell asleep by the train and two mutts came over, meanwhile loverboy was picking flowers!"

"Loverboy?"

"Yes loverboy, I called your father that"

"Why was he picking flowers?"

"I don't know, what is this 20 questions … He might have been picking them for you sweetheart."

"Oh okay"

It all falls silent.

"Right I am going to get ready for meeting the stylists later at the Capitol, see you in a bit."

"Bye"

As I leave, Alex starts to wake up. I look to Haymitch but he shoves his hands towards me, telling me to leave so I do. After I shut the door I hear talking,

"Where's Charley?"

"Your sweetheart?"

"Yes, my sweetheart" He says confidently

"Well A) that's none of your business where she is and B) I don't think she would call you her sweetheart after what you did last night to her, leaving her in the path of mutts."

"You love trying to rain on my parade don't you?"

"I am only telling you the truth!" He snarls back

Effie walks in,

"Boys stop the arguing and Alex you need to get ready for the Capitol! We will be there in a few hours!"


	6. The final hours before the Capitol

I sit in the lounge cart with Effie doing my makeup, we wait for Haymitch and Alexander to arrive but after a few hours Effie sends me to find Haymitch. She says that my face looks more beautiful than ever but when I look at my reflection I don't even recognise myself.

I find Haymitch at the back of the train leaning on the railing, looking out with a beer in his hand,

"You know sweetheart this has got to have been one of the most stressful train rides I have ever been on"

I just laugh. He turns to me and jumps,

"What?" I ask

"I didn't recognise you, here" He passes me a towel,

"Go rub that makeup off your face before she turns you into a doll"

"Okay"

With the makeup gone he starts talking again.

"I love your dress, give us a twirl!"

So I spin around in a circle and Haymitch laughs,

"Wait till loverboy gets a load of this, he will have his tongue hanging out of his mouth literally"

"Will he?"

"It's just a saying but he will think you look amazing"

"Oh well, I will just have to ignore him"

"Come on we need to get our suitcases, we will be arriving soon"

We get our suitcases and wait in the lounge, but Alex still doesn't arrive. Everyone is calm and acts like he doesn't even exist so I think maybe its time to find him.

I get up and Effie asks me where I am going to, I reply that I am going to find Alex but she tells me to sit down and let Haymitch get him. Effie walks over looking quite concerned, she sits next to me and takes my hand.

"What's wrong Effie?"

"Nothing, I just need to have a little chat with you."

"Oh okay"

"Have you ever fallen in love or had a boyfriend?"

"No, why?"

"Well Haymitch and I thought of a strategy"

"Yes, I am listening"

"We think you should do what your mother did … be in a relationship with the other tribute, just for show of course. We have already talked to Alex about it and we asked him to stay clear until we told you, he thinks it's a great idea!"

"Well why you couldn't tell us together I don't know and obviously he would like the idea!" I shout

"It isn't that easy you see telling you ideas at the same time"

"I don't care; I am not putting on a show that will backfire on me" I say as the train pulls up at the Capitol.

Effie doesn't look back at me.

"Alright everyone we are here!" She squawks.

Haymitch and Alex walk out into the lounge,

"Hey sweetheart" Alex says and comes over for a hug, but I walk away.

"Gutted!" Haymitch cackles

As we get ready to leave the train, we hear shouting from the Capitol residents, Alex waves out the window as they all line up waiting for us to get off. Alexander walks up to me and grabs my suitcase,

"Here let me take that honey"

"Don't call me that" I shout, "And I can take my own suitcase.

"Please children" Effie says "As soon as we get off your personal feelings go behind closed doors… The cameras will start rolling soon. Even if the hunger games haven't started!"

"Yes!" Adds Alex, "So let me take your suitcase"

I decide that if he carry's on being like this I will whack him over the head with my suitcase and Haymitch can see it in my expression so he says,

"Alexander, I will take your suitcase and Effie you can take Charley's!"

"Okay" Effie squeaks.


	7. Arriving at the Capitol

Effie and Haymitch get off the train first and start walking and then Effie gives us the nod. As I step off Alexander puts his arm around my waist, I struggle but let him after a few minutes. People "oooh" and "awww" at my dress and I get asked to give them a twirl quite a bit. But Alex is always keen to get his arm back around me. One of the interviewers asks me what my relationship status is and for once I really don't know so Effie says that I can't reveal any secrets until the interview with Caesar. Instead people just say to Alex that he should ask me on a date and he replies,

"Of Course, I was thinking of that on the train up!"

After I give another twirl I notice that Alex is talking to the Capitol folk, so I see this as a time to meet the other tributes.

District 1 and 2s' tributes are really snobby and only care for themselves but I do find nicer tributes in District 11 and the boy from 5 seems genuinely sweet so I go over and decide to talk to them. The girl from District 11 is 16 like me but the two boys are 17 we are laughing so loud that everyone can hear us and Alex rushes over to meet them at the smoothie bar,

"I hear you two are in a relationship" says Adam – from D5

"Yes" says Rochelle and Martin – from D11

"Well I would definitely not call it that!" I pronounce

"Wouldn't you sweetheart?" Alex says cockily "I most certainly would!"

"But we aren't so; we can't call it that." I say back

"Awww their first argument" Rochelle says

"Look I don't care about him, I am starting to not like him and we have argued quite a bit so if you don't mind, lay off! Will you?" I shout but not loud enough so everyone can hear me.

"Were sorry!" They say.

"No its my fault, I just get all worked up about boys and stuff like that because I have never been in a relationship"

"Really?"

"Yep,"

"I wouldn't have guessed" replies Rochelle.

"Can I speak to you a minute" Alexander asks

"Yes" I reply

"I take it you don't like me, let alone love me"

"I never said that" I say quietly

"You didn't have to sweetheart!"

"Well do you like me?"

"No" He takes a deep breath. "I don't like you … I love you"

"You love me? But why?"

"Like your father did your mother, I have loved you for a long time. As soon as I first laid eyes on you, I felt like I was meeting my heart for the very first time."

"That's so romantic and sweet; I don't know what to say …"

"You don't need to say anything" he says. As he leans closer the lights dim and a very loud voice says,

"These are your new tributes … now we have seen what they look like, we can move like. Hit the music!"

I whisper to Alex, "I can't dance though…"

"I know" He replies

"What?" I ask

"I was trying to do that whole romantic thing but it really didn't work! We have more room here than on the Capitol Train right!"

"Where is this going?"

"Let's go and walk around the Capitol and see the sights there is to see!"

"Are you out of your mind? That's just asking for trouble"

"Come on sweetheart, please"

"Alright but if we get in trouble it was your idea!"

"Sure darling" he replies while smirking.


	8. The Capitol streets

We are about to leave when our new friends stop us,

"Where are you going?" Rochelle asks

"For a walk around the Capitol, we are sneaking out … do you want to come" Alexander replies.

"Okay I am in" replies Martin

The other two just nod as a sign that they are coming. I look to Alexander and he whispers,

"We will ditch them and say we lost them"

"I am not losing friends quicker than making them" I say

"Guys, its cool if you want to walk alone … we will walk a few paces in front" says Adam

"Sure" I say "… as long as you don't ditch us"

We all laugh. As we walk to the back door we see the peacekeepers walk away so we run out of the hall and start to walk down the Capitol streets. We bump into a peacekeeper down one of the streets he asks us,

"Aren't you tributes for the 100th Hunger Games?"

"Do we look like tributes?" Martin replies

"Yes do we?" Adam adds

"No, I'm sorry"

"So you should, I am allowed to walk down the high street with my girlfriend and our friends" Alex says

"I am sorry; I will let you carry on"

"Good" Alex replies

We walk further down the street,

"Right I will let you two sweethearts have time to yourself" Rochelle says,

"Thanks, I need a few minutes to talk to my darling"

"Aww you've almost got me blushing! … you're a lucky one to have him as your man"

I just stand there and nod as they walk off.

"What do you think you're playing at?" I turn to him,

"Why are you looking so serious sweetheart?"

"Answer my question!" I reply

He stays silent,

"I am not your girlfriend and I don't know what I feel for you" I say.

He just opens his arms for a hug but I turn around and walk back to the big party hall to find Effie and Haymitch. He Catches me up, puts his arm around me and softly says,

"I can give you time to figure out your feelings if you need me to, but I want you to know how I feel"

"Okay" I say. He puts his arms around me for a hug but something about his expression didn't seem right but I went to give him a hug anyway and he kissed me on the forehead saying "I know how I feel about you my sweetheart."

We get to the hall and see Rochelle, Martin and Adam talking to Effie and Haymitch.

"There you are … We got worried!" Effie shouts

"We went to get some air" I answer

"Don't do that again, you hear me?"

"Yes Effie!" I reply

"The party is ending, why don't we go and go and get settled into our new rooms?"

"Okay" says Alex.

He grabs my hand and we walk behind Effie with Haymitch behind us, watching our every move so we don't run off. The Capitol streets are lit up and have signs with "The 100TH Hunger Games" written all over them. Effie says that it isn't that far a walk to the tribute hotel but it seems to be taking forever; suddenly we stumble upon a big sign. Effie says we have arrived and a sigh of relief comes to all of us.

"Where are we staying?" Alex asks

"On the twelfth floor" Effie answers "Because we are District 12."

"I am going to go up …"

"Okay" Effie says "As long as you take the suitcases"

"No thanks Effie, I will carry something else"

"What?" Effie asks.

Before anyone had time to speculate he picks me up and carries me up the first flight of stairs then stops and holds me in his arms,

"Let me down now!" I shout,

"Why?" He replies

"Because I said so"

"I was only trying to help!" He says as he puts me down,

"And you do help, I would be a mess without you to help me get through all of this" I declare.

He smirks,

"Could I carry you up the stairs then … to help you of course?"

"Okay!" I chuckle,

Alexander picks me up and I start laughing, I think everyone in the hotel can hear us but I don't really care. Effie comes stomping up the stairs so we hide behind a door, she walks up the stairs with Haymitch and a hotel employee following carrying our suitcases. After they pass we come back out and he picks me up again.

"Lets go up" I say and for once Alex agrees.

As Effie opens the door we arrive up the stairs, Alex doesn't put me down just yet.

"There you are" She exclaims

"Yes were here" Alex answers

"Alexander Heroy put her down now!" Effie orders

"Not until we get inside"  
"Alex it's alright, I can walk inside by myself" I add

"Okay then sweetheart, if you say so" he replies as I laugh

"Come on then … let me take you on the tour" Effie squeals


	9. Settling in

We get inside and Effie starts walking,

"Wow!" I say

"I know!" Effie replies

"Effie?" Alex asks

"Yes Alexander"

"Do you think I can go to sleep I am really tired?"

"I suppose you don't need a tour because you can find everything yourselves."

"Thanks Effie"

"No problem! Charley are you feeling tired?"

"Umm I don't know... I don't think-"

"Yes, she feels tired … she told me as we were coming up" Alex quickly says,

"Oh okay" she says with a big smile "Looks like someone wants some alone time with you Charley" She winks.

"Where's our room?"

"Your room is there and Charley's is across the hall by here"

"Oh okay …"

"Something wrong?" Effie asks

"I just thought we would sleep nearer together"

"Well you don't!" Says Haymitch "Effie I will take over from here!"

"Okay … I will be in my room."

"Night Effie!" We say in chorus.

"Right off you two go to bed" Haymitch laughs as he pushes Alex in the opposite direction from me,

"Yeah, sure" Then he turns around, runs to me and grabs my hand.

"What the hell are you doing Alex" I scream

"I don't want to leave you, not even for a night!" He shouts so Haymitch can hear,

"Get a grip" Haymitch snarls

"I will when I'm dead" He cackles

"Alex!" I scream

"What's wrong" he says worriedly

"Can you let me go now?"

"Okay"

"Come on we need to go to sleep"

"I don't want to leave you"

"Well you will have to; I will only be across the hall so if you can't sleep you can come in my room"

"Darling?"

"Yes"

"I can't sleep"

"At least try and go in your room for 10 minutes"

"Alright baby"

After 10 minutes in bed I hear the door creak as it opens,

"Hey Alexander"

"Were you expecting anyone" Haymitch says as he laughs

"No!" I say, starting to be defensive,

"Its okay, you don't have to explain your loverboy to me sweetheart … I had to strap him in bed before leaving because he kept on that after 10 minutes he would come and find you, he was also on about a great escape he was planning."

"What the hell is going through his head?"

"I personally think he is love-drunk … and so are you!"

"What?"

"I'm only kidding!" We both laugh.

"Night then sweetheart"

"Night" I yawn

I wake up to silence, I look to my right and the double bed is empty apart from me. I look to my left and I see the clock says 5:00am, I know that no matter how long I try I will not go back to sleep so I get up and get dressed quietly and go for a walk outside the room. I decide to walk to the only other door on the corridor and find that it is a balcony with a pool and bar; nobody is manning the bar so I help myself to a bottle of water. I sit on the wall and look down at the silent Capitol streets. Ever since the reaping everything has been go, go, go. It feels weird for everything to stop and be calm, but I will not moan about it.


	10. Missing love

Quite a few hours pass me by but I want to stay and watch the city, I see the town below get busier and busier. I hear shouting as well but it is too loud to come from the city, I think Alexander and Haymitch are arguing so I don't think I will go back just yet…

Suddenly I see Alex run out of the doors towards me screaming,

"I've found her, I've found her!"

"I didn't know you missed me that much last night!" I laugh. As I jump off the wall he swings his arms around me, hugging me tightly with tears in his eyes.

"Effie came into your room and you were gone" he says

"I really couldn't sleep"

"Missing me eh?" he says cheekily, as if he was turning back into himself.

"Maybe!" I say

"I missed you …Effie sent us out as search parties"

"Really?"

"Yes" He says as he hugs me again, "Yes for both questions" he laughs

"We need to go back to see Effie and Haymi-"

"Wait …"

"Yes?"

"Didn't you wonder where I was?"

"Yes but, I didn't know whether to ask or not."

"Well you could have asked … anyway, I thought you might be getting sick of me so I didn't show up, therefore giving you a night of peace"

"I never get sick of you" I say thinking that he is just saying it for attention but boy could I have been anymore wrong!

"Now we can go back" He says funnily

"Okay, let's go!"

When we get back I see Effie and Haymitch looking rather relieved to see me.

"Aww Charley you're alright" Effie screeches

"We thought you were a goner, that you had done a runner unexpectedly!" Haymitch Cackles

"Well I'm alright so can everyone stop worrying!" I ask

They all nod back

"Why don't you go to sleep on the sofa?" Alex asks

"I have had all the sleep I need for today thanks"

He walks closer to me and holds both of my hands

"Wait until we are alone"

"What?"

"I have a surprise for you later"

"Oooh got me all excited now!" I laugh.+

"Right you two time for training, Haymitch will take you and pick you up."

"Yes Effie" I say.


	11. Don't show them a lot

We arrive at the Training Centre very early District 1 and 2's tributes are the only other tributes here so we have alone time because Haymitch has left. The only advice he gave us was not to show the other tributes a lot of what we can do so they don't have any advantage over us in the games. The careers are in a circle talking so I turn to Alex,

"So what's the surprise you were on about?"

"Well I was thinking I could take you out for a stroll around the Capitol late at night so we can see the lights. You know, all romantic and that" He says

"Well I will check my diary when we get back because I have a lot of engagements this week." I laugh

The Careers suddenly approach us,

"So where are you from?" says Ash – from D1

"District 12" Answers Alex

"So you're going to lose right?" asks Leah – from D2

"Why would we lose?"

"Because your District 12" Answers Rachael – from D1

"No … We have 3 victors, so we must be doing something right yes?"

"Maybe… what's your name?" Asks Todd – from D2

"Alexander Heroy!" He says proudly, "And who are you lot?"

"I am Todd that's Leah, Rachael and Ash … Who's your gal"

"That's Charley"

"What … can't she speak?"

"I can speak perfectly fine thank you Todd" I add

"She speaks then"

"Why … don't you want me to?"

"You say that as if I am being rude!"

"Well maybe you-"

"Alright Sweetheart calm down"

"Sweetheart? What do we have here a couple?"

"Why do you want to know?" I say quite defensively

Before he could answer the coach's comes out,

"WOW! So this is my team of tributes, yes there are six of you … I suppose training will be cancelled then. Go on, go into the town and have some fun I promise we will start to train tomorrow"

"Okay" everyone says and we walk off.

"What about our one to one sessions, when are they?" I ask

"Well I suppose we can do them now and get them over with, the rest of the tributes will have to be scored very low or now at all"

The other tributes eventually arrive and I am last to have my one to one session. I grab a bow and arrow and I get it right on the target, next I go to the camouflage area and paint bark on my arm, then in my final minutes I realise they are not watching so I chuck a knife at the plush sofa, it lands right between the head Gamemaker and the coach.

"That will be all thank you"

"Your very welcome" I say in a weird voice

Everyone waits outside for the coach

"Right you will find out your scores tonight at the interviews"

"Oooh" Everyone says in chorus.

"Now go on go and run around in the Capitol"

"Bye" We say in a chorus

"Where do you want to go darling?"

"I don't know …" I answer

"Well do you want me to take us somewhere?"

"Okay then … where are we going?"

"We are going to dance down the street, No we will go and walk to the park yes?" he says funnily,

"Sure"

"Do you mind if I tag along because Ash is taking the girls shopping" says Todd

"Only if my sweetheart says yes … Well baby?"

"Go on then as long as you don't be rude to me or Alex"

"I won't."

The day at the park is really fun and me and Todd have had a few running races, he is quite fast.

"So angel what do you want to do now?" Alex asks

"I want a big dessert like ice cream that we had in the party last night"

"There is a dessert truck over there; I will be back sweetheart, bye"

"Bye" I reply

It seems that because Alex has stopped acting like my bodyguard, and gone on an errand for me, Todd wants a conversation,

"So are you two a couple?"

"I don't really know" I answer "… It's complicated"

"Is he playing hard to get or something … or are you?"

"No it's just, I don't know how I feel about him …"

"Oh, I don't know anything about relationships!"

"Neither do we Todd, neither do we"

We laugh as Alex returns.

"They said I needed money but I don't have any."

"It's okay, I have gone off my hunger" I laugh.

"I should be getting back … Leah will wonder where I am"

"Okay, Bye Todd" Alex says

"Bye" I add

"See you tomorrow for the interviews" He shouts

"We should be going as well Haymitch will wonder where we are!" I exclaim,

"Okay baby I understand, you don't want to be late"

"No" I say

"No need to get defensive honey" he says cheekily and grabs me around the waist, so he is facing my back.

"I'm not getting defensive Alexander"

"Okay then" He says whilst kissing my neck,

"No really!" I say whilst pulling myself away from him,

"Alright, lets go then"

We meet Haymitch and Effie, tell them what has happened and then let them take us back.


	12. The night before the Interviews

When we get back we meet our stylists and they start to get to work on our outfits, while we wait we are allowed to go outside and look around some more at the Capitol. Alex asks me to wait by the door for him, I hear him whisper to Effie "I'll ask her now" so I start to wonder what he is asking me.

"So what was that all about … with Effie?"

"Nothing, nothing. Why don't we go to that surprise then honey"

"Oh okay then!"

As we approach the lights around the Capitol town Alex diverts us so we walk on the sandy beach, I see this as a time to take my sandals before they rub my feet. I feel the sand between my toes and love every minute of it. Alex suddenly picks me up and cradles me in his arms,

"You know I really do love you, with all of my heart"

"Stop making me blush!" I giggle

"Why it's fun watching you get all embarrassed!" he answers

"Oh yeah!"

"Can I drop you in the sea?"

"Why?"

"Because I feel like it!" he says cheekily

I toss, turn and struggle to get out of his arms but we just end up in a heap on the sandy floor, laughing together with the moon in front of us shimmering its reflection on the waves.

"So do you know how you feel about me?"

"Nearly, Alex, nearly"

"Come here" he chuckles and helps me into his lap.

He leans in and kisses me on the lips and for once in my life I feel like I have experienced what non-family love feels like.

"How about know, do you know if you love me know?" he asks

"Its still nearly" I answer quietly

"Are you going to pretend we are in a relationship for the interviews?"

"So that's why you dragged me out here, something romantic to sweeten me up eh?"

"No Sweetheart!"

I get up and walk off in the sand but Alexander runs after me and grabs my arm,

"Effie wanted me to do this but I didn't want to hurt you. I'm sorry, she forced me to do this so you would say yes! I really do love you and I just want you to know that I would do anything for you … you can count on me Charley"

"It is one of the first times I have heard you say my name rather than calling me sweetheart or darling you know?"

"I know. Charley, baby, honey sweetheart or darling I don't care because they all imply that I love you now come here"

I open my arms for a hug but I get pushed on the floor and in a moment of madness and passion I let myself get continuously kissed until both of our lips feel dry.

"Have you decided yet?"

"It's still a nearly!"

"Well … will you be my valentine darling?"

"I don't know … if I do there is one condition …"

"I'm listening"

"We keep this a secret so everyone doesn't keep going on yes?

"Sure… so now you can think about it more, now let's fall asleep on the sand because I can not make it back up those stairs …"

"Neither can I" I say as we kiss and hug in the moonlight. Soon enough I fall asleep while being cradled by Alex, both of us knowing that it is definitely a night to remember and keep a big secret.

I wake up still in Alex's arms at about noon, he is walking but I don't know where he is walking to, I open my eyes anyway,

"Good morning honey" He says as he kisses my forehead,

"Where are we going?"

"Back to the hotel so Effie and Haymitch don't get worried."

"How much sleep have you had?"

"Why?"

"Aren't you tired?"

"No not really, it was worth staying up. I watched over you all night, listening to the sound of the waves"

"Why don't you go to sleep when we get back yes?"

"No because I want to look after you"

"Can you put me down then Alexander?"

"Okay and you can call me Alex"

As we walk down the street I let my head rest on his shoulder until we get to the hotel, so nobody suspects anything. We walk to the twelfth floor and then Alexander stops,

"I guess you still don't know about what you feel for me?"

"Yup, I promise I will decide at the interviews"

"So you're going through with it … Effie and Haymitch's plan?"

"I still don't think so but anything could happen!"

Suddenly we see Effie walk over quite fast,

"I got worried!"

"Sorry I couldn't walk anymore so I wanted to camp at the beach and Charley wanted to stay with me so I didn't get hurt"

"Okay… Now come on, you need to try on your outfits for size."


	13. During the meal

Alex comes out in his black coal-looking suit,

"How do I look Charley?"

"Alright"

"Alright? I think I look amazingly handsome!"

"I thought that was your usual!" I laugh

Next it's my turn, I expect to see a black dress but what I see in front of me is a white dress that looks like a wedding dress. I just gasp at its beauty but Effie starts asking me to try it on so I do… I come out of my room and everyone stands up looking at my gorgeous dress. Joba asks me to give him a twirl so I spin around and I am so dazzled that I slip and fall but Alexander catches me in his arms and pulls me upright. He wraps his arms around my waist and whispers in my ear,

"You look even more gorgeous than usual!"

I start to laugh but my laugh is cut short by Haymitch asking me to twirl again, purposely trying to get Alex away from me. I give another twirl and then sit down,

"You need to stay in those outfits until the interviews and then the stylists will add extra things to them!"

"Okay" I answer

"Right Haymitch and I need to pop out for lunch with the other mentors and guides, see you later!"

"Bye!" Alex shouts.

"You know you look absolutely amazingly and beautifully gorgeous sweetheart!"

"Thank you" I reply

"Last night, if you don't know if you love me why let me kiss you?"

"I don't know"

"Have you ever kissed someone before?"

"No you?"

He shakes his head and walks over to me.

"Kiss me again?"

I just shrug my shoulders,

"Please…"

"Well kisses don't mean anything when they are forced or expected"

"Okay then … I will kiss you later!" He laughs

"Yeah sure" I laugh

He turns the lights off and walks over to me; he grabs my hands and pulls me up so I am standing.

"Well you can't have expected that could you!" He chuckles

"Now come on my princess… give me a hug!"

As I hug him he lifts me up, cradles me and he starts to kiss my cheek and lips,

"Effie and Haymitch might walk in on us Alex"

"Yeah so, it will teach the old codger to stop being rude to me!" He replies

"You said you promised it would be a secret"

"Well when they come in I will stop okay"

"Fine then!" I answer,

"Are you feeling hot or is just me?"

"Your romantic thing isn't working now!" I laugh

"Right now you look so beautiful that I can't believe you're not an angel"

"OH SHUTUP IT STILL ISNT WORKING!" I shout and laugh

As we kiss the door opens and the light turns on, we both jump but it's only an avox taking our empty plates away so we ignore her. She turns the light back off the way she found it and Alex try's to carry on kissing me but I pull away,

"What's the matter?"

"I feel tired"

"Well we could take this to my room baby!"

"No!" I shout

"Okay we won't" He says quietly

"I think we shouldn't see each other until the interviews"

"Why?"

"Because I think I have figured it out, how I feel and I need space to think it through!"

"Okay, I will be in my room" He says as he walks over to the door loosening his tie. I know I said I know how I feel but I really don't that's why I need space.


	14. The interviews

Effie and Haymitch come through the door and look at me,

"Where's Alex?" Effie squeals

"In his room, we both needed some time to think of what we are going to say at the interviews"

"Oh okay, can you get him because you need to leave, your horse drawn chariot is awaiting you!"

"What?"

"Well instead of the procession being separate they decided to put it together with the interviews"

"Oh okay, I'll get Alex"

I walk to his door and knock it gently,

"Alex we need to leave"

He opens the door and seems to have a red face from crying.

"What's wrong?"

"I am a bit scared…"

"Oh come here! You know I am as well."

He seems to laugh at that so hopefully I have unnerved him a bit. We say goodbye to Effie and Haymitch then get in the chariot to be whisked away to our interviews, Alexander puts his arm around my waist and rests his head on my shoulder kissing my neck up and down.

When we get there the crowd "ooh" and "aww" at us, we are told to talk to the crowds and then go in the tunnel to wait for our interviews.

Alex goes up for his interview and sits in the chair,

"Hello Alexander, how are you?"

"Very good you?"

"Alright. Now I now we are going in at the deep end but I have to ask the question on everybody's minds! Are you in a relationship with your fellow tribute?"

"I don't exactly know Caesar; I have made it clear how I feel and now it's up to her" He replies

"What a lucky lady having you, I mean you have blonde hair, blue eyes and a smile to die for … She will have to answer you soon, surely. You will have all the girls at your feet if you win!"

"Thanks"

"I love your suit; it's very fitting and is it comfy?"

"Yes, very"

"There is time for one more question so here goes. Have you kissed her yet?"

"Why?" He said starting to get defensive

"Well the Capitol wants the gossip and if you haven't well there is the key to her heart my boy"

Suddenly the buzzer goes and Caesar bids Alex good luck and farewell. Now it's my turn and I start to feel really nervous.

"Here is your final tribute, Miss Charley Mellark!"

As I walk up the steps all of the Capitol has their mouths open gawping at my dress

"Come and sit down dear! Wow you look incredible!"

"Thanks" I reply

"Again I start at the deep end and I am very sorry but are you in a relationship with Mr Heroy?"

"Um, I don't know" I laugh

"Well Alex said it's up to you so …"

"No we aren't"

"Are you sure Charley?"

"No but it will have to do for now"

"Oh okay, so you want him but you don't?"

"Yes"

"We have pictures of a few passionate kisses and a night on the beach together! Are you sure you're not head over heels"

"I think I love him but neither of us has loved someone before so it's not as if we know what we are going into"

"Very well then, so are you confident to win?"

"I don't really know if I will win but if I do then I want to win with Alex because he has been there for me a lot and I would feel guilty winning without him"

Suddenly the crowd Aww's at what I say,

"To me that sounds as if you do have feelings for him" He adds as the buzzer goes. "Right that was all of your tributes! Join me after the break to find out their scores!"

When they go off air Caesar asks me to meet him backstage so I wait for him. When he arrives he says to me,

"I think you should pretend to go out with Alex for the Capitol"

"Effie and Haymitch said that," I reply

"Well why not?"

"It backfired on my mother, Katniss!"

"That doesn't mean that it will backfire on you though…"

"Okay and Caesar can I tell you something?"

"Yes!"

"I really do love him, but we do have bad arguments sometimes, I just need time to get my head straight but I can't!"

"If you fake going out with him nobody will ever have to know!"

"Okay then"

"I will get all of the tributes to come up on the stage and then pronounce that you and Alex are in a relationship"

"Okay, I won't tell Alexander so it doesn't upset him… bye"

"Bye darling"

I tell Alexander that I want to be in a relationship with him and he looks really excited,

"This means I get to kiss you more!"

"I suppose" I answer

"Come on we need to get back on stage sweetheart"

We get on stage and our scores are revealed, I have the joint highest score a score of eleven with Todd and Alex has the third, a score of nine. Then Caesar turns to us and speaks out to the Capitol,

"Do you think the District 12 tributes suit each other?"

"Yes" The Capitol residents scream and shout,

"Well I can now reveal during the break things developed and now I present to you the cutest couple ever … Alexander Heroy and Charley Mellark.

Suddenly the crowd roars with excitement and Effie can't help but blush at the back of the stage.

Alex turns to me and whispers "Let's give them a show"

I look to him confused and his pushes his lips out so I understand what he is saying. Then he holds my waist with both of his hands and snogs me while I put my arms around his neck. The Capitol crowd roars even more and I think I have lost my hearing but I don't care.

After we get off stage the chariots take us home.


	15. The next day or so

When we get back Effie, Haymitch and the stylists Joba and Miriam congratulate us on our scores and our fake relationship.

I say I am feeling tired so I can go to my room and get some sleep. I slip my high heels off and try to undo my dress but it won't unzip itself so I leave it on and lay on top of the covers. After a few minutes someone knocks the door, I don't have enough energy to answer so I just lay there but whoever it is walks into my room anyway,

"Hey darling it's me" Alex says

"Oh Hi" I reply

"Why don't you put something more comfy on, hmm?"

"I can't undo my zip!" I say

"Do you want me to help you?"

"Okay" I say tiredly

He walks over in a dressing gown, it's not tied up so you can see his pants and the rest of his body but he doesn't seem to care. He gently pulls the zip down and I slip out of my dress, he stands there looking at me in my underwear smirking,

"Well when I first met you I didn't think I would end up seeing this much of you baby"

I go under the covers and reply,

"Same here"

This makes him laugh.

He slides under the covers on the other side of the bed and lets out a sigh,

"Who said you can sleep in my bed!" I say

"Well I thought seen as we are in a relationship I could sleep next to you"

"Well your thought wrong!" I reply.

He moves over to me and facing my back he puts his arms around me. I struggle and tell him to get off but he stays put for the whole night.

In the morning I wake up with Alexander's arms still wrapped around my waist, I struggle but eventually get myself free of him. I decide to have a shower, get dressed and then call room service for breakfast.

When breakfast arrives I take two trays with plates on for me and Alex, I walk into the room to see Alex sat up waiting for me,

"Hey sweetheart!" He says,

"Hey I brought you breakfast"

"That looks delicious!"

"Yes it does I have got to agree!"

After breakfast I take the trays back out whilst Alex gets dressed. I see Effie, Haymitch, Joba and Miriam at the table eating breakfast. I put the trays on the table and walk out the door to the pool and bar balcony. Soon enough Alex joins me and we start to talk,

"I saw your interview last night you seemed quite scared of the Capitol in a way"

"Well I said I was… I wouldn't lie to you would I?" I reply

"No, but you just seemed-"

"Okay I seemed nervous I get it"

"What's wrong?"

"The only reason I went through with this was because Caesar Flickerman told me to and I had to agree, I am so sorry"

"It's okay and we can talk about this inside because I think there are cameras about from the Capitol magazines!"

"No, because I don't care about them, I care about you. I am telling you the clear truth but you don't seem to care! Every time I pour out my heart for you, you just ignore me … What have I done wrong for you hey?"

"Charley wait…" He says as I walk out of the balcony to the District 12 room. I walk through my bedroom door and lock it behind me, Alexander is shouting and banging on the door but I am not going to open it to him or anyone right now. I hear Haymitch shouting at Alex,

"What have you done wrong now?"

"Nothing you old codger"

"Don't you old codger me"

"Oh shut-up! Charley let me in, I'm sorry I should have listened to you, it's my fault!"

"I thought it was your fault"

"Oh shut-up Haymitch will you, look I know you don't like me but I love Charley so please leave me alone!"

"Whatever!"

I didn't come out of my room for food, I stayed there all night, I wanted to stay there for a day or so but I was getting bored of my room and my window wouldn't open for fresh air. It only opened when Alexander tried to open it, which was one of the many reasons I really liked him, he would do anything for me even if it was a ridiculous request. I tried to open the door but something or someone was lodged in front of it, I kept on pushing until I woke him up. He moved out of the way and stood patiently waiting for me to come out. I came out slowly with my hair looking a mess; he grabbed my hands and pulled me close,

"I am so, so, so sorry Darling, I love you so much and I should have listened. I knew that Caesar put you up to it and I don't care because I get to spend more time with you"

"I do know how I feel, I feel not ready for all of this but every time we kiss I feel like my heart belongs with yours … So I decided not to mess you around, I love you and we should officially be in a relationship so we are!" I answer

"Okay my lovely girlfriend!" He replies.

After our conversation we sat on the Capitol sofa talking about Effie's Makeup and laughing at her crazy wigs but Haymitch walks out so we bring this to a stop,

"Right time for your two all day training session"

"Two day training session?" I reply

"Yes honey, you stay at the training centre for two days" Alex adds

"Well obviously! And you stay there over night sweetheart"

"Oh okay, I will pack my things"

"No need, you will be given your training outfits and that's all you will have. They will make you all stay in one room so you will have a mini hunger games. It's like the hunger games but you can not actually hurt each other because it's not allowed and it's outside … whatever the weather. There are going to be real trees and bushes. Oh yeah and there's going to be baby Tracker Jackers and poisonous berries but they wont kill you they will just make you quite ill now come on lets go!"


	16. Before the two day training

We arrive at the Training Centre later than everyone else, they stare at us as we hold hands so we let go of each others hands and give them a nod as a hello. Haymitch decides to give us a pet talk,

"Right you two, good luck and don't show them what you can do well… remember to be smart about berries and only one person can win this mini Hunger Games so Alex leave Charley alone you hear me?"

"Okay, fine! Have it your way"

"Good, right see you in two days children"

"We are sixteen we are not children!" Alex replies

"You're still a child whatever your age!" He cackles.

Todd and Leah walk over to us and ask Alex if they can take me away for a minute, I walk over into the corner with them and Leah starts talking.

"Hey do you want to be in the careers team for The Hunger Games?"

"What she means is would you like to?" Todd ads,

"What about Alex?"

"Don't worry we will add loverboy into this situation its just we want to ask you first and see if loverboy agrees!" Todd replies

"Um … I don't know"

"Don't worry we wont be mad … we just wanted to know what you would think!"

"Yes we will be mad!" Leah says louder

"Oh shut-up Leah and go away!"

She pulls a face at Todd as she walks away,

"I'm sorry but I will have to pass at that … No hard feelings?"

"Sorry I can't promise that" He sniggers

"What do you mean?"

"I can't promise anything…"

"Well I can see where you stand now, your nothing but a manipulative little boy who thinks he knows everything but when something doesn't go his way he throws his toys out the pram and has a tantrum!"

"May the best man win … which means I will enjoy killing you! But first you get to watch loverboy die slowly and painfully!" He cackles. Then he walks away as Alexander, Rochelle, Martin and Adam walk up two me,

"What was that all about honey?" Rochelle asks

"Nothing, nothing"

"Tell us" Adam answers

"It's nothing"

"Charley obviously something's up" Martin says

"Todd said that he will make me watch him kill Alexander and that it would be a slow and painful death … He also said that he would kill me afterwards only because I said that me and Alexander didn't want to join the careers pack!" I cry

"He won't kill us honey!" Alex reassures

"He threatened it pretty well"

"Nobody and I mean nobody messes with my girl!"

He starts walking over to Todd but I grab his arm,

"No leave it"

"Yes she's right, save it for the arena, and then you can beat the hell out of him and wipe that grin off of his face!" Martin ads

"Yes but what we really need to do is to play him at his own game, cut off his friends and then leave him to struggle in the woods. After that we can come for him!" Rochelle says

"That is a really good plan but what will happen after that… there will be five of us because the rest will be killed in the bloodbath?"

"We will get Todd and the Careers to kill us one by one so you two don't have to kill us and then you win!" Adam says

"We have been thinking about that this plan for a while I must admit." Rochelle ads,

"Make out that your fighting for us and Districts 5 and 11 will want you two to win!"

"Sure; do you agree sweetheart?"

"Okay but only for you lot"

"Deal" Rochelle says and everyone nods.


	17. The two day training

The coach comes out and directs us to the changing rooms, which are opposite each other. We each have a uniform with our district number on the shoulder and ankle; they are black with patches of green and red on them so we can blend in with the scenery around us. But everyone has one question on their minds… What is the scenery?

We come out and stand in a big group,

"Right, you will be shown your places and then given a countdown from 10"

We get to our spaces and the countdown starts, what we don't recognise is that the whole of Panem is watching the mini Hunger Games for the first time ever so everyone will watch… I think it's to help get sponsors earlier but I don't know. The countdown starts

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Goooooo!"

Everyone runs to the middle but I leg it for the trees, running faster than ever before I can't believe I haven't fallen. I stop to catch my breath and see the careers after me, this is like a game of tag, if they tag you you're out formally known as DEAD but I gave it a new name which to me sounds much nicer. The Careers spot me and I start to run again but they start to run as well, I see a big tree and climb up it but Todd climbs up after me. What I don't know is that Rochelle is at the top, she suddenly tags Todd and he is out,

"Hey Rochelle, thanks I actually got kind of scared of him. Where are Martin and Adam?"

"No problem and they couldn't be bothered with this so tagged each other at the start" She laughs "I stayed to help you, now come on before you fall lets get down and tag them!"

"But we are outnumbered!"

"So …" She answers as she jumps out of the tree, I climb up to the top and jump after her,

"You ready Blondie"

"Ready as I'll ever be!"

We jump out of either side of the tree and tag Ash and Rachael but Leah puts up a fight and tags Rochelle. We walk around in a circle then she takes a stab at tagging me but I just about dodge and tag her back, what I don't realise is that this tagging session was very short and Alex and I are the only two left but we don't know that yet. I run around screaming his name but can't seem to find him so I lay in a tree.

Morning comes and I wake up to shouting I look down and see Alex, I forget I am in a tree and fall but he catches me in his arms and hugs me,

"Hey darling" He says as he kisses me

"Hey" I say excitedly

"You know we are the last two"

"Are we?"

"Yep and I will let you win"

"No you won't"

"Just tag me"

"Okay then" I kiss him and then tag him out.

I expect to win but something worse happens … Something in my worst nightmares happens but I don't know about it yet!


	18. My worst nightmare thanks to you

They pronounce that I am the last tribute standing and I wait to be taken away but nobody comes then a voice appears,

"By decree of the Capitol if a Mini Hunger Games is shown to the public the victor has to stay in the arena for another two or three days after they win."

I hang my head in dismay but a parachute floats down into my lap, I open it up and read the message it says,

"Only two days and I will have you back in my bed darling… from your dear Alexander xx"

I start to laugh but at the end I cry then I open the box and find a little bottle of water and a bit of turkey wrapped in a tissue to keep it as fresh as it could be. I hold onto it and decide not to eat or drink yet so I would save the food for tomorrow but it's very hard so I plant my head on bunch of leaves and wrap my coat further around me to go to sleep.

Although I was meant to stay here a day or two a week has gone by and I am thinner than a twig and all out of tears to cry. My little bit of turkey and bottle of water are gone, I feel really sick and exhausted from trying to find water and all I can think of is the sight of my mum, dad and brother crying at what they have done to me as punishment for my mother and my father winning The Hunger Games. The dreams are getting so horrible that I end up screaming for them,

"Mum, Dad help me!" I expect to see their faces but I don't see them so I curl up in a ball and rock myself to sleep like Alexander did when I was weary.

Suddenly I see a helicopter come overhead and I stand up so it can see me but it isn't here to rescue me at all. Arrows start coming out aimed at me so I run. But then I see a bird that looks like a MockingJay but it's not and it starts to follow me. The creature comes up to me and opens its mouth I hear words from Alexander's mouth and start to cry, then it plays words from my mother, father and brother. At the end of its chorus it flies away but its noise is still in my head… I start to scream because I can not take it but my screaming doesn't even drown it out. There is only one thing I can think of doing, I grab a fairly big sized rock and bash my head with it, hopefully knocking myself out but it doesn't work so I carry on until I hear another helicopter and a voice.

"We declare you winner of The 100TH Hunger Games mini heat!"

A ladder comes down and I climb on. The Capitol doctors check me over and clean me up, one says,

"Well Miss Mellark you did very well and no cuts but towards the end we thought you were going insane!"

"What happened to the two day wait?"

"Well the Head Gamemaker, Mr Lynsander Rankin's, and President Snow wanted to see how long you would last out there."

"Oh okay."

"If it were up to me I wouldn't have the Hunger Games, seeing young innocent children die every year just isn't fair but don't tell anyone I said that okay?"

"Sure, what were you saying again?" I reply as the other doctor comes out to check on me,

"Thanks" he answers quietly.

"Hello I am Doctor Rowan and the man over there is Doctor Welks"

Doctor Welks waved and smiled,

"I believe we have already met"

"Good, good. So Miss Mellark, you will be taken to the District 12 floor and put into your bed in your room any further questions?"

"Will I see Effie, Haymitch and Alexander?" I say quietly trying not to hear the names,

"Well I don't know I will speak with Mr Rankin's and see"

"Okay … Thanks"

"No problem. Right, Doctor Welks will stay here as I get ready for landing"

"Okay"

"So sit tight"

I was laid on a hospital bed with tubes coming in and out of me but all I seemed to care about was my family and friends.


	19. A new setting is getting old

I am in my hotel bedroom tucked up but still awake, staring into space is getting very boring and nobody comes to see me. So with nothing to keep me occupied I am sat there wasting away by myself. The doctors haven't come to check up on me at all so the only person I see is the avox who brings my food in and out; she has brown hair which is now very short because they must have cut it when they cut her tongue off but other than that she is absolutely beautiful.

Unexpectedly a visitor comes to see me. The doctor walks in and says hello.

"How are you Miss Mellark?"

"Bored but keeping down my food so I think I am okay"

"Good. Now there are two things that I need to talk to you about,"

"I'm listening…"

"Well, because of your state we can't give you mental help from the bird so you will have to deal with that yourself…

I am sorry about that and-"

"Wait, wait, wait, where's Doctor Rowan?"

"She got taken off of your case because she is busy in the Capitol but don't worry there are plenty more doctors that can step in if you want to doctors"

"No thanks, I just wondered"

"Okay and the second thing was that people can come and see you if you wish!" He says excitedly

"Can I see Haymitch, Effie and Alexander now … Please I can walk out to them see!" I get up and start walking as normal but fall over so I grab my crutches and carry on and Doctor Welks looks really happy and surprised that I am walking just yet.

"You have to stay in bed though I suppose you can come with me to see them"

We walk out and as Effie and Haymitch's faces light up; Alex walks out to the balcony in a huff.

"Don't worry; it's just a bit of a shock for him… to see you up and about." Doctor Welks reassures.

"How are you sweetie?" Effie shrieks

"Alright, how have you lot been?" I reply

"Worried as hell" Haymitch says as he wipes his eyes from tears discreetly.

"Can I speak to Alex?"

"Not really because he thinks all of your suffering is down to him and he is very annoyed with himself"

"It was both of us; I would beat myself up over it as well… Tell him to see me when he is ready and that I am absolutely fine and also that I love him with all my heart!"

"Okay sweetie" Effie answers

I look expectantly at Effie,

"Go on then go and see him" She says

I hop out towards the balcony and see Alex leaning over looking down on the city. I hop up to him and stand by his side he then turns around with tears in his eyes and a frown on his face but he wont look me in the eyes.

"It wasn't your fault so please don't beat yourself up"

"I am trying but seeing you suffering is just killing me inside"

"It would kill me to see you like it… look me in the eyes!" I shout

"I can't, I just see your suffering" He shouts back

"How do you think I feel, hmm? I know this is devastating to you but its torture for me and I need you to be my rock right now!" I scream

The Doctor comes out but waits by the door for me,

"Please, I need you Alex; I need that fun, loving, strong and completely gorgeous guy back now to help me get through this!"

"Okay but there was one thing I wanted to ask you after you won… Caesar reassured me that it was right"

"What did you want to ask me?"

"Well here goes!" He takes a deep breath

"Miss Charley Mellark … Will you marry me?"


	20. Love heals an illness, or does it?

"Umm Charley?"

"Um, wow, that was a big shock… I kind of feel faint…"

Suddenly I fall onto my back and Doctor Welks comes over "Alright Alex can you carry her to her bed please, its nothing to worry about she has just fainted because of her being awake for so long and a little bit of shock"

"Sure… Can I stay with her until she wakes up?"

"I suppose so!"

I am laid in bed and Alex stays by my side, sat in the chair next to my bed but I haven't woken.

After a day I wake up and find Alex asleep with his head on my bed and his hand still locked with mine, I sit up and Doctor Welks comes in.

"Nice to see you're awake again" He says quietly

"Yes very" I reply quieter

"So have you made up your mind because the Capitol has found out…? It is all over the paper. Someone was near the balcony and saw him get down on one knee so they took a photo!"

"Yes I have made up my mind… How is my health?"

"Well I have to say your body is remarkable, after a bit of sleep you are completely better so I will discharge you and I will leave"

"Oh my gosh, thank you, thank you, thank you. I will help you pack up!"

I help pack him up and say goodbye to him as Alexander wakes up,

"What are you doing out of bed"

"Nice to see you to and I have been discharged after my remarkable recovery!"

"Oh cool… do you remember anything before you collapsed?"

"A little bit why?"

"I wondered if you had an answer…"

"Well I never saw a ring!" I laugh

"Nice to see your humour again and here it is" He laughs back. He opens the box so I can't see the ring and says,

"Well?"

"Well what?"

He gets down on one knee,

"Will you be Mrs Charley Heroy?"

"Yes, I will" I answer and a sign of relief comes to Alex. He slips the ring on and I get to look at it for the first time, I just drop my jaw at it. It's a huge diamond on a silver band and every time I move my hand I see it shining and glistening in the light, I go over to the mirror to look at it and then I run back over to him from the mirror and knock him backwards. I land laid on top of him,

"You realise you just broke my back" He laughs

I get up and pull him up after me he then sits on my bed and I sit in front of him as he wraps his arms around me and holds me like he used to.

"I missed the way you held me when I was by myself" I pronounce

"I missed the way my arms fitted around your waist" He laughs, but really he is just trying to clear my mind of thoughts from the arena.

Alex lies down and tries to take me down with him but I stay sat up so he sits up,

"If there's a wedding the Capitol will want to know and organise the whole thing… But The Hunger Games is in two days!"

"Alright sweetheart calm down"

"Well what's happening?"

"We should do the District 12 wedding ceremony now between us"

"Okay" I say hesitantly "I did want my friends but I have you so I am okay"

We finish the ceremony with a kiss and then I go to sleep. Alex walks out the door but I stop him by turning around,

"You know what I miss?" I ask

"What?"

"The persistent Alex that never wanted to leave my side… the flirty, fun and loving Alex!"

"He is right here sweetheart"

"Why are you leaving then?"

"To get you a blanket because you were shivering"

"I see he is still here now" I laugh

He gets a blanket and we share it, curled up together.

Like on the beach I put my life aside and let Alex look after me, kissing me I turn to face him and rest my head on his bare chest. I feel his warmth so near that I feel like I, let alone my heart, will melt. He strokes my hair away from my eyes and takes my bow out of my hair; he starts to sing the same song that my mother sang to a little girl called Rue.

For the first night since the Mini Hunger Games Alex and I are really connecting and understanding our love, after all we should know that we are married but I don't know what will happen in the Hunger Games so I ignore my thoughts and concentrate on Alex.


	21. The final day of training

Yesterday we trained by running over different height blocks and also fighting on them, so we get used to fighting people on different landscapes and terrains. Today is our last day of training and what we do will be edited and shown to the whole of Panem this evening but the sponsors are going to be watching us live so if we make any mistakes that's it, we can't hide behind the editorial work of the Gamemakers and their assistants.

We line up girl, boy, girl, boy in order of our Districts so Alex and I are last. We will have to go to every station and show-off our skills; we start at the lower quality stations and work our way up.

First we are at the Camouflage station and I do quite well because of my father but apparently if you do well on lower quality stations you don't do well on higher quality stations but that won't hold me back. Next we go to the knot-tying station and I mess a few knots up but make a great snare at the end, Station after station comes and goes but now is my time to shine on the higher quality stations.

I go up to the climbing station and climb the tallest tree they have without stopping for breath, but I don't dare jump down and show-off because I will probably break my ankle so I climb back down slowly. Next there is the knife throwing which I am not so good at because my father would never let me chuck one of his prized sharp knives, so I take my place and get ready to throw. Alex throws it and gets it straight in the heart of the board with a person carved in, when I throw the knife it hits the head but at least I didn't miss. Finally it's the archery, everyone has missed so the sponsors are getting bored but I take the bow and stand by the arrows looking for the sharpest one, the sponsors have taken note and are intrigued to see if I will do well. I take my aim and suddenly Todd shouts,

"Miss, miss, miss!"

The sponsors give him a dirty look and he shuts up. I take my aim again and I hit the target right in the heart, no beginners luck at all.

I take a bow and walk back to the group of tributes standing to watch but I am grabbed on the arm by someone,

"You show real potential my girl"

"Thank you" I reply

"We will be having words soon my girl, having words soon" He repeats

"Does that mean you will sponsor us?" I ask

"Us?"

"Alex and I?"

"I was going to sponsor you and the boy from District 2"

"Todd and I"

"Yes that's his name!"

"Oh…"

"Honey he doesn't stand a chance, look at him"

"He is muscular" I say

"Yes but that doesn't change a thing… he can't lift someone to death can he?" He sniggers

"I suppose not"

"Well, just think of yourself and your family and you will be fine!"

"Ok" I answer and he walks away.

When we get back we watch the day back with Effie, Haymitch, Miriam and Joba. They congratulate us and we go into my room for a sleep knowing that the next day was going to be a big one and that it will drag on for a while in our minds.


	22. Let the games begin!

I wake up at the same time as Alex and he gives me a big hug,

"Good morning sweetheart! How are you?"

"Scared!" I say in a huff,

"Me too, me too" He repeats

"I am scared because of what the sponsor said… remember I told you about it last night?"

"Yes but that won't happen honey… we are going to win! Rochelle, Martin and Adam will help us get past Rachael, Leah, Ash and Todd!"

"Okay" I say convincingly but it was still at the top of my thoughts and wasn't going to go down any time soon.

We get ready and come out of the room as breakfast arrives, a few minutes later Miriam and Joba come out and sit opposite us,

"We have a surprise for you two!" Miriam says excitedly,

"Really?" I answer

"Yes" Answers Joba,

"What is it then?" Alex asks

"We get to give you earphones and you can link them up with allies by codes we give you made up of numbers and letters, they are also on your coats under your names on the inside obviously so everyone you don't like can't see your link code! We also give you a coat with fur on the inside a waterproof sheet on the outside!" Miriam says

"You will be put in an order chosen by the stylists, we each pick a ball out of a big pot and it has a letter for your sex and a number for your district!" Joba adds

We just nod along.

Suddenly Effie comes out looking normal but really beautiful at the same time,

"Hello everyone, if your wondering Haymitch and Rosedale have gone to get sponsors and they both wish you good luck!" She says whilst forcing a smile but she is scared for Alex and me.

After breakfast we travel to the makeover building and have our makeovers done then we get back into our outfits and are whisked away to the Pre- Hunger Games room. We stop for a breather and say goodbye and good luck to our friends. Rochelle, Martin and Adam walk over to us and we swap codes,

"Ready?" Martin asks

"Yes!" We all say,

We have a group hug and Alex asks,

"Remember the plan?"

"Yes!" Everyone says

"Remember you are always loved" I say to Adam and Martin then I turn to Rochelle and she kisses me on the cheek,

"Win for me honey… Win!" She says quietly

"Okay" I reply hesitantly

The Head Gamemaker, Mr Lynsander Rankin's, walks in,

"Right your order has been picked!" He says then he reads out the order, Alex, Adam, Martin, Rochelle and I are at one end so we can make an escape for the woods while the boys get rucksacks and weapons for us in the bloodbath.

We go into our rooms and get given our coats by our stylists.

"Good luck Mockingjay" He says with tears in his eyes,

"I am not the Mockingjay though…"

"But you are the Mockingjay reborn my dear, now go on do me and your family proud. Its time to show them everything, you can be a mess and cry because maybe everyone is judging you but you know none of us are darling"

"Thanks, that's the best advice and tips anyone has given me" I hug him and tears roll down his face, I am trying not to cry and for once I am doing well. We get told to step into the tubes and they close around us, suddenly they ascend and I wave goodbye to a distressed Joba who waves back with tears ruining his make-up.

I look around and see all the other tributes, I am on the end with Rochelle and the boys are next to her, we wave back and forth and remind each other of the plan. Nothing happens for a few minutes so the crazy girl from says that she is going to jump off but everyone screams no to her else there will be a delay whilst they take her body away so she remains standing on the podium.

The Countdown finally begins and we are all poised waiting for the countdown to finish,

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and it stops we all look around and then a roar of screaming fills the arena from the speakers

1…!


	23. A mad dash!

Everyone watches as we make a mad dash for it, some tributes like Rochelle and I run for the trees while others like the Careers and the boys in our gang head straight for the Cornucopia to gather supplies. Rochelle and I go to a tree near to the entrance of the woods but not to near that people can get us, we see Martin and Alex run towards us. Martin carries the supplies while Alex is carrying a much wounded Adam.

"Quickly let's go the Careers are gaining on us"

We jump off of the tree and make a run for it,

"What happened?" I ask

"Todd and his friends… They jumped out behind him and took him down; we promised we wouldn't leave him while he still had life in him"

"Poor, poor guy." Rochelle ads

We have been running, walking and doing whatever else we can to get away, for hours and cant find water. It is so hot and the sun is setting so we decide to make camp in a big tree. It is not that tall but it has room to fit all of us comfortably, we lift up Adam and then all go up, Alex going last because he wants to make sure none of the careers get us or pull us down. Rochelle and I sleep one side of the tree and the boys sleep on the other side, we all wake up when the cannon sounds and look to the sky all of the tributes from District 3, 4, 7 and 8 died in the bloodbath. We say a prayer and go back to sleep.

I wake up at about midnight and see Alex sat up by Adam,

"Were you too cold to sleep because it seems like its boiling in the day and freezing in the night?"

"No, I didn't want him to die alone"

"Have you had any sleep?" I ask

"No" He replies

"Right" I say as I crawl over to him, "My shift, go on go to sleep"

"No"

"Yes!"

"What if the Careers come or worse… he dies"

"I will tell you, I promise"

"Ok"

Before sunrise Alex wakes up,

"How is he?"

"Nearly gone"

"Oh ok"

We have a moment of silence but then I hear talking.

"It's the District 6 tributes… they are down below the tree" I whisper. Alex gets a knife to throw,

"No wait, look over there… the Careers" I say

"Let's wake everyone one up and work out a plan"

I nod along. We get everyone up and look down at them, they haven't spotted us yet so hopefully that's a good sign. The Careers aim and shoot down both of the Tributes. We work out a plan and decide to stay with Adam, slowly he passes on and we all say another prayer for him. We take his headphones and coat off of him so nobody can contact us and we can keep warm with an extra coat. As the tree is so wide we decide to run away instead of ambushing the Careers so we jump down the other side of the tree and move on. A helicopter comes and Adam is lifted away.

The Careers watch and laugh as Adam is lifted and we see this as the time to run, while they are distracted. We run for a while then stop to see what is inside our backpacks; I open mine and find a big, long piece of rope, a long piece of bandage, an empty bottle, a container for food and a big metal ring shaped like a horse shoe which I presume you attach to the end of the rope. So you can swing it up and the hoop will wrap around the branch so you can climb up the rope safely if you can't climb up trees. We all have roughly the same things Rochelle and I have the ropes and hooks, Martin has a compass and Alex has a big bladed knife. We put our stuff in our bags and carry on walking and looking for water but that isn't all we will find.


	24. What will we find at the lake?

We walk further into the forest and Martin hears rushing water, he runs forward and a trap springs, he is caught dangling upside down,

"Right me and Alex will keep guard" Rochelle says

"Okay" I reply

I start to cut him down but in the corner of my eye I see Rachael in a tree laughing and holding a spear about to be thrown, so I stop cutting and throw the knife at her, it hits her arm and blood starts to pour out.

"Well done Mellark, I see you have finally shown your guts" Rochelle says,

I grab another knife from my bag and cut him down,

"You alright" Alex asks

"Yes thanks" He replies

"We need to be more careful and by the look of things we are not safe around here, let's keep moving!" I say.

We carry on walking and the sound of water gets louder, I lead the pack and push aside a huge leaf the size of a door, to reveal a waterfall and a lake. We walk out and search for signs of other tributes but we can't find anything so we put our coats and bags down and strip off to our undies for a swim,

"Hey, hey, hey Mellark I can see why he likes you" Rochelle laughs,

"Yes isn't she just gorgeous" Alex ads

"Oh yeah!" Martin says

"For a non well-nourished girl you have a figure to die for!" She says

"Thanks honey!" I reply back

I start to wrestle Rochelle into the freezing water but she turns it around, gets me on my back and pushes me underwater so I do the same back. Everyone starts laughing and having fun in the cold water and we wash our cloths and dry them and wait for our bodies to dry. We get dressed again and grab our bags as the Careers arrive across the water; Rachael isn't bandaged up because Leah has got the bandage in her hand teasing her with it. Rachael's arm is still bleeding badly and I am starting to feel a little bit sorry but she did aim at me with a spear so I suppose I beat her to it.

Todd sees us and they all start running over to us through the water, we run as fast as we can and all climb up separate trees but he follows Martin up the tree like a tiger hunting a gazelle. They get to the top and Alex, from across the trees, lobs a spear but it misses Todd and it lands in Rachael's neck. Killing her instantly. Ash runs to her side rocking her while Todd whacks Martin across the head, hoping he will fall to his death but he clings on for dear life.

I jump off the tree I am on and run to the tree that Martins on, I climb up and Alex shouts for me not to but I don't listen. I grab Martin and pull him the other side of me so he can use me as a shield,

"Move out the way Mellark!" He shouts

"No, you will have to go through me first!" I shout back

"It will be my pleasure" He snarls

He takes a lunge but I dodge it so he falls off the tree. He lands on his feet and calls his troops to come away while he curses and walks away.

We all jump down to watch them leave and start to converse,

"I told you not to go up!"

"I had to do it, for Martin"

"We could have lost you!" Alex shouts

"And we almost lost Martin!" I reply and he then shuts-up.

I walk over and hug him while Rochelle and Martin start walking.

"I just don't want to lose you!" He cries

"You wont, you won't" I repeat.


	25. Why the runaway?

We start to take breaks from following the Careers and finally admit that we lost them so we try to find big trees to go to sleep in.

"Why did he run away?" I ask

"He wants to wait for a bit probably" Martin answers

"Wait for what?" Rochelle asks

"He wants to wait for when there are less of us and less of them probably, so if we see him he won't want to fight but he will threaten us so we need to stay away… Right?"

"Yes" we all say,

"Darling?"

"Don't worry I won't, I promise"

"Good because I don't know what I would do-"

"Without you and I love you!" I join in the chorus and we start to laugh.

"Am I that predictable?"

"Yes, yes you are" I laugh

We bed down in a tree and wait for the Cannons; we see the pictures of Adam, Rachael and the District 6 tributes. After that we go to sleep so we can wake up early.

When we get up there is screaming down below, the crazy girl from District 5 is being chased by the District 9 tributes again but this time they weren't the reason for her death. She tripped over a Tracker Jacker hive and then the Mutts came and chased the two tributes away but the mutt got hold of the girls' foot and ripped her toes off. After that the boy came back and helped he hobble away on one foot. We stay up in the tree for another few hours and then decide to come down when the coast is clear. We walk around and look for the Mutts and tributes but they are gone. We grab our bags and start to walk back to the podiums where we started these games but someone gets in our way, Todd.

"Ash committed suicide after you killed Rachael, he actually loved her." He shouts over to Alex "Leah went to kill the District 9 Tributes, she should be back now" He shouts over,

"Why didn't you kill me?" Martin asks shyly

"Mellark was in the way" He says

"Why didn't you kill me then?" I ask

"I stick to my word, your going to watch loverboy die!"

"In your dreams Todd!" I shout

"No, it's in your nightmares!"

And with that he walked away,

"Well that was weird huh?" Rochelle says

"Very" Alex replies

I start walking in the opposite direction and find the body of the District 9 girl and her mangled foot. The others run up to me and see her as well, the just gasp at the bottom of her left foot.

"Shush, just turn around slowly and walk away… it's a trap!" I say quietly

We turn around and see Todd and Leah stood side by side,

"Clever girl Mellark but I must admit that was slow figuring out for you" He cackles loudly

"Yeah!" Leah chuckles

"For the slowness I will make loverboy suffer more!"

"You don't scare me!" Alex shouts,

"Oh but I do scare Miss Mellark!"

"Its Mrs Heroy to you" He shouts back,

"Oooh even better, I get to kill your husband!"

"No you won't you will answer to me!" Rochelle ads

Leah lunges for her hips but Rochelle jumps out of the way.

"Stop Leah you need to wait for me to tell you to go for them"

"No I do what I want when I want!"

"Well if you would have done that from the start you would be dead!"

"Fine!" She shouts

"I will give you a ten second head-start yes?"

"Why?" Rochelle asks

"So Leah and I can come and hunt you down!"

"Were not moving"

"Well say your prayers and prepare to die!"

"We'll chose the 10 second head-start" Martin says rather quickly

"Okay let's get this started then, I am losing the will to kill someone!"


	26. The will to Kill

He starts the countdown,

"10, 8, 6,-"

"You could at least countdown properly" I say

"You caught me on a good mood Mellark okay then"

"It's Heroy"

"Shut up He-whatever"

"I will when I'm dead!" Alex says

"Want to promise that…? 10, 9,-"

I look to Alex, Rochelle and Martin,

"Split up?"

"Okay you go with Alex, I'll go with Martin" Rochelle says,

"5, 4, 3,-"

I start running with Alex, eagerly running for our lives.

Rochelle starts speaking into the headphones,

"Head for the podiums, we'll meet you there"

"Okay, are they following you?"

"They aren't… Todd is though"

"So that means Leah is following us-" I stop and stand still, "Why is Todd following you?"

"I don't know but we are running pretty fast and he is still gaining on us" Martin says

"Charley come on we need to run!" Alex shouts

"Why has she stopped?" Martin asks

"I don't know?"

"Carry on honey!" Rochelle says

"No, I am ending this fight with Leah because when the cannon went off they didn't show Ash, so he is still alive and they are making us run into his trap!"

"Oh yeah, Go on Mellark, we will join you now. We will cut across the forest,"

"No carry on, Leah might be waiting at the side for you, turn around and come back the way you came. I know it's risky but you need to try!"

"Okay" Martin says "Ready, go!"

"We need to get to them!" I say

"Let's go then" Alex replies

We start to run but I turn around and see Leah, I get my other knife I used to cut Martin out of the trap and stop in front of her, Alex carries on running but stops when he notices I am not running along side of him.

"Charley turn back around and carry on running or climb up a tree, do something!"

"No! I am not running anymore!"

"Hello again!" Leah screeches "I can't wait to kill you"

"Why are you so sure you'll kill me?"

"Because I can do this!"

She lunges towards me with the spear and I jump up like Rochelle did but she pushes a knife up with her other hand, I grab the blade and cut my hand in the process. I twist the blade so it is leaning against her skin and if she tries to move her arm will get cut open but she wriggles out. I still have her and my knife so I lunge into her and didn't expect to but got one of my knives in her right hip. She covered it with her hand for a minute and then grabbed both of my arms and locked them so I couldn't move them.

Alex try's to run to me but Ash grabs him and holds him down on the floor,

"You're not going anywhere anytime soon my friend!"

"Alex! Alex!" I scream, but he can't come because he is held down.

She try's to tie me to a tree but doesn't realise that I still have a knife in my hand, soon after Rochelle and Martin arrive closely followed by Todd.

"So you tied her to a tree… Finally you did something right" Todd says, he walks up to me and I cut myself free and go for him with the knife but I miss completely and drop the knife. He slings me over his shoulder and starts to run away telling Ash and Leah to wait a few minutes and then come after him.


	27. Camping out under the stars

Todd has been running for at least an hour and a half so decides to stop and tie me to a tree so he can look through my backpack.

"Why did you do this?!" I scream

"Because it's simple… come on work it out!"

"I cant okay! I can't!"

"Loverboy will come after me for you but if I hide you and say I let you go I can use your headphones to locate him on the map device attached to them. I could kill them all, win with you and you can get loverboy back from the dead, it's a new rule, one tribute can be brought back to life!"

"Take me back to him"

"No"

"Please Todd," I drop to my knees, still tied to the tree "I love him and I will be a wreck without him"

"Okay"

"What?"

"Okay if you do me a favour"

"What?"

"Kill Leah and maybe even Ash"

"Deal"

"Oh and there is a part two!"

"What else?"

"I swear I won't kill you if you camp out with me and watch the stars, it just reminds me of home…"

"Umm okay, anything to get this rope off" I laugh.

We put our backpacks in between us and lay on our backs so we camp out under the stars. I think that when he falls asleep I will make a run for it but he starts to make conversation,

"My best friend Louise and I used to camp out under the stars until she went in the Hunger Games and she died, she was 2ND place" He says sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear!" I say

"Why are you so kind to me? I mean why say sorry, why listen to me?"

"I don't have another choice"

"Oh… Thanks" He snarls,

"I could run right now!" I shout

"And I could catch you and tie you back up to a tree!"

"Want to promise that?"

"Why, are you going to try?!" He shouts

"Maybe!" I grab my bag and his spear and start to run, he runs after me so I chuck the spear in his arm, very close to his shoulder. But he pulls it out and carries on running after me. Thankfully its muddy so he slips over as I run into the forest, I see a tree and start to climb knowing that he was about to come. I sit in the fork of the tree and wait for him, he eventually comes and starts to walk slowly, making sure I wouldn't pounce on him. Alex walks out into view and shouts at Todd,

"Where's Charley?"

"She ran off! I mean she died!"

"Where did she run off to?"

"I don't know!"

I jump down from the tree and run to Alex with open arms. I bowl him over with the force of my body. I stand up and pull him up after me; Todd gets a knife and chucks it at me. My leg starts to bleed and won't stop so Alex picks me up and carries me away. Todd starts to run but gives up after a little bit knowing he can't catch us. Rochelle bandaged Martin and me up and it seems that Todd hurt both of us and not Leah, I tell everyone what Todd said and we think up a plan of what we can do.


	28. When plans go wrong!

We decide to find Todd and his gang so we can kill Leah; we walk to where I camped out under the stars with Todd and try to look for footprints and blood trails but there aren't any. Next we go to the lake and find Leah scrubbing her bloody hip. Rochelle jumps in the water after her and pushes her head underwater, they start to fight and I jump in to help Rochelle before she gets injured. Rochelle stabs Leah's neck, legs and right arm before Leah stops fighting. Rochelle lowers Leah into the water and lets her go as Ash arrives, he sees Leah's body and steps into the lake, knife at the ready. Alex and Martin jump out on him and Alex stabs him in the shoulder but he turns around and slashes Martin, grabs Leah and runs off to find Todd so we make a hasty escape to patch Martin up. Martin is on the floor in a heap, not at all moving then he suddenly takes a big gasp for air and we know its his last, we take his headphones, bag and coat and start to walk away into the forest leaving no trails for them to follow us on. That very same night we realise that there is only Todd, Ash and us three left so we will be pushed together by fires, fireballs, waves, tornados and whatever else they can throw at us, so we decide to act fast and try to find them. We walk to the edge of the forest and make a plan to jump out and give them a surprise attack but things are never as easy as they seem, Alex will go out and talk to them then Rochelle and I will jump out with spears and knives. We will chuck some weapons to Alex and get them, Rochelle says she will get killed in the process by Todd and then we win!

We walk to the podiums we started on and wait for them, eventually they come but they did take their time. Rochelle and I hide in a nearby tree while Ash and Todd walk up to Alex.

"Where is your girl and her friend?" Ash asks

"Down by the river… Leah died then?"

"Yeah, she was getting annoying anyway!" Todd shouts as if he is trying to make her spirit hear him,

"Did you come to finish me off?" Alex asks shyly,

"Yeah… Rochelle first and then you so Little Miss Mellark can watch, she's going to get killed after… Slowly and painfully, slowly and painfully!"

"Oh but she won't!"

"What? Why?!"

Rochelle and I jump out and stab Todd in the arm and try to get Ash but he runs away from the blade. Suddenly a pole falls to the floor, it looks like a hammer but there is a ball on the end and it has spikes on it. Ash runs for it with Alex running after him but he gets there before Alex.

"Say goodnight and goodbye!"

"What, to you?"

"No…!"

"Owww!" Alex screams as Ash hits him over the head, he drops to the floor and I try to run to him.

"No you don't!" Todd cackles as he grabs me, he picks me up and puts me over his shoulder as I scream,

"Alex… Alex!"

"Shut-up Mellark" Todd shouts

"Alex!"

"I'm coming Charley, I'm coming"

"Duck!" I scream

The hammer swings, he turns around and his life flashes in front of him, he falls to the floor and a dark silence falls in the arena.

Please review because I am starting to loose the will to finish but I know quite a few people are enjoying it so I will carry on but PLEASE review!


	29. Life hangs in the balance!

Todd drops me and I run to Ash, I pick up the hammer from the floor and swing at him. He tries to fight back but Rochelle comes and finishes him off for me, he falls to the grass and lays there waiting for death to hit him. I sit by Alex and let him rest his head on my lap trying to hold back the tears,

"You don't have to be strong for me" He whispers,

"I do"

"Okay then darling…"

"I am so, so sorry I let this happen to you" I say,

"It's okay; it wasn't your fault… Can you promise me something?"

"Yes"

"Can you promise that you will win and that when I am gone you will find someone else to love?"

"I can't love someone else… I, I, I don't want to and I can't!"

"Okay, but if and when you do I won't be mad because I don't want you to be alone"

"Fine, I can promise that" I answer

"Oh yeah and Charley?"

"Yes Alex?"

"Charley my sweetheart, darling, baby and honey…"

"Yes"

"…I love you Mrs Heroy!"

"I love you to Mr Heroy" I say as he closes his eyes,

"No Alex, stay with me…" Todd and Rochelle start staring at me while I scream, "No Alex, don't go…" I scream and cry but he doesn't open his eyes again.

Todd starts to walk away but Rochelle runs after him,

"Where are you going?"  
"For a wander in the forest"

"No!"

"What?"

"You can't leave her; look at her she's in pieces!"

"Not my problem!"

"Look I know Alex and you had your differences but you could at least take her away from him while his body is being taken away!" Rochelle shouts

"Fine but I am not doing you any more favours! Oh yeah and I want you to promise me something!"

"I'm listening…"

"I get to kill you in a fight; Charley doesn't have to watch… We can distract her and split you two up so she doesn't see"

"Okay…" She agrees

"Really, that's nice of you, your such a good friend, dying for her… I almost feel sorry for killing you!"

"Whatever, now go on, go get her…"

"Okay, Okay, cool your sponsors… Oh yeah you didn't have any!"

"Nobody did… they announced at the beginning that because it's the 100TH Hunger Games they won't… You know because of the Quarter Quell,"

"I know what it's called and I'm going, I'm going" Todd says as she gives him a mean look.

Todd walks over to me and picks me up,

"What are you doing?" I scream

"Getting you out of the way, can you see the helicopter?"

"Yes!" I shout "I was just saying goodbye to him… before he was taken away" I cry

Todd walks over to Rochelle with me in his arms,

"Thanks" Rochelle says

"I will see you later" Todd cackles quietly,

Rochelle just nods whilst gulping slightly as I cry louder.

"Mellark stop over-reacting will you… he's dead get over it!"

The helicopter comes and goes quite quickly… Probably because I was deafening them with my screaming but I didn't care! I sit in a heap where Alex was laid when he died, crying my eyes out,

"Why, why did it have to be you… why not me" I say to myself

"Oh honey" Rochelle says "What are we going to do, hey?"

"I don't know!" I cry

"Why don't I sing you a song from District 11…? Yeah?"

I nod back. She sits next to me with her arm around my shoulder,

"Is it a happy song…? We don't have any happy songs back in my District" I say

"This is a happy song…" She takes a deep breath

"Love me like the sunshine,

Treasure me like the winter,

Hold me till I feel no pain.

I stand here while the sun shines,

Listening to the birds chime,

Waiting for their songs to end.

Then I know, the day is done and gone,

I will be back here, tomorrow to sing another few songs,

So don't forget me… I swear I will be back,

So don't forget me… I swear I will be back,

Oh I swear, I swear I will be back,

If I'm not then you can eat my cap."

"What's the cap thing about?" I ask, still being quiet.

"We wear soft caps so if apples fall they won't hurt our heads" She replies

"Oh okay… Rochelle?"

"Yes" She answers

"Don't let Todd kill you…"

"What?"

"I heard you make the deal… You could play him at his own game, couldn't you?"

"I had my fingers crossed and you and I are going to win!"

"Promise it?!"

"What is it today with people wanting promises" She laughs but I don't even smirk or look at her. I am too busy thinking of all the times I have had with Alexander and what he really meant by the promise I had to give to him.

"Okay then… I promise we will win!"

But whatever I seem to say the other happens, like my mum, fingers crossed it won't come back around and bite me on the but now!

Please review! I want to know what you guys think!


	30. Make the last one count!

Rochelle and I walk to find Todd together and say we will split up, so just as he tries to kill her I will jump out and get him with my bow and arrow. The only thing is getting the plan to work!

We find Todd with what seems to be a burn on his arm and leg; I stay in the bush,

"What happened then?" Rochelle asks

"A fireball and a wave of fire to my legs!"

"Oh"

"Where's Charley?"

"She's off looking for food and water…"

"Okay, let's get this over with then!" He laughs.

He holds his knife in position and I take my aim. I shoot him in the leg, right in the centre of his burn and he starts waving his knife in the air as Rochelle hits him with her heavy bag across his head.

"I did cross my fingers Todd… as if I would ever promise you anything, let alone my life!" She laughs.

It may seem a bit rude but Rochelle was laughing when Todd died… it was as if she had a lifelong hate in him but she never knew him so I don't understand but I didn't think about it too much.

The helicopter comes and goes and then a voice, the voice of Caesar Flickerman, booms into the arena,

"Well done… You are winners of The Hunger Games!" He shouts,

"Yes!" Rochelle shouts "We did it!"

"Yeah… I suppose"

"Mellark please get a grip! We just won… forget about Alex!"

"How can I do that?"

"Oh shut-up we are about to be taken away!"

I sit there stunned by what Rochelle has said,

"Well you do need to get a grip love!"

"Fine then I will…" I say as I stand up trying not to cry but feeling like I have gone from a fragile state to a torn to pieces and also put in a paper shredder bin state!

"I didn't mean it like that!" She says but she is cut off by the voice that comes in again,

"The helicopters are on their way!"

Winning felt alright but I just wanted Alex... If I knew what was coming I would definitely get a grip and prepare for the helicopters but we don't know what is going to happen so we just stand and wait…!

When the helicopters arrive Rochelle and I hug then we climb the ladders to the top. I see doctors but don't recognise any of them, they stare at me probably looking for cuts and bruises but there aren't many for them to gawp at. One of the doctors comes in with a weird white suit on, just in case I have fleas from the mutts I think to myself, he gets a needle out of his case, stabs my arm with it and then leaves. I don't know what was in the needle but it's putting me to sleep, I decide to sit down but in a few minutes I have fallen asleep. I still don't know what was in that needle but I am sure that it was like a knockout gun because I didn't feel tired before but the depression might have also been a trigger. I wake up back in the prep room but I am chained to the bed and Rochelle and Todd are sat either side of me, asleep in chairs.

"What? You're alive!" I say quietly

"Yes… you thought I was dead but she just knocked me out, so you're awake then."

"Yes… I'm awake"

"Is it a nightmare… me being back alive?" Todd asks

"No… Why?" I say hesitantly

"Well umm… I was thinking of how I am going to make it one!" He cackles

Rochelle starts to wake up so I close my eyes and go back to sleep,

"I heard talking… I'm sure"

"Who's talking to whom then?" Todd answers

"Oh umm I don't know" Rochelle replies "…Has she woken up?"

"Yeah but she went back to sleep as you woke up!" He laughs

"What have you threatened her with?"

"Nothing I just said her life will be like a living hell" He says normally

"You are so vile; you deserve death to come knocking on your door!" She shouts,

"Don't speak to your fellow victor like that… I don't care about you but I do care about Charley…"

Please read the sequel story if you want to know what happens! – The 100TH Hunger Games: A tale of two lives!  
The first chapter will be up as soon as this is published!


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